Middle East: much more than just a mixed bag.

Yes, Israel attacked Damascus, the capital of Syria, on the afternoon of July 16th, in a surprise daytime operation. The targets were strategic buildings of the new Syrian interim government, including the General Staff building and the Ministry of Defense, near Umayyad Square, next to the presidential palace of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new Syrian leader with a jihadist past, who led the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. The attack included aerial bombardments and the use of drones. One of the bombings occurred live during the broadcast of a Syrian TV news program, reinforcing the ostentatious nature of the operation. Images of the news anchor fleeing in desperation from the TV studio amidst the noise of the explosions went around the world.

 The initial toll reported was 3 dead and 34 wounded. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the operation publicly on the X network (formerly Twitter), saying:

"The warnings to Damascus have ended. Now the harshest attacks begin." Israel claims the objective of the operation is to protect the Druze community in the Sweida region, which is allegedly under attack by forces associated with the Syrian regime. Sweida is an important Druze stronghold located near the border with the Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.

As soon as news of the attacks spread, the border descended into chaos: about a thousand Israeli Druze crossed the border, passing through Majdal Shams, to help the community in Sweida. Netanyahu intervened in a video with an appeal: “Don’t do this, we are operating against Syrian regime gangs to save our Druze brothers, you risk being killed or kidnapped.”

The protection (or, more precisely, the tactical and political support) that Israel offers to some Druze groups in Syria, especially those located in the Golan Heights and the Sweida region (southern Syria), is due to a combination of geostrategic, historical, and humanitarian reasons. Approximately 150 Druze live in Israel, and many of them are loyal citizens of the state. Unlike other Arab groups, Israeli Druze serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and hold positions in state institutions. One hand washes the other...

What is truly important is that the attack on Damascus is highly significant because it targets not only forces linked to the former Assad regime, but also the new Syrian interim government, supported by Turkey and recognized by the US. At the same time, it demonstrates a clear and militarily aggressive stance by Israel at a time of political transition in Syria. It could provoke international reactions, given the violation of Syrian airspace and the direct involvement in sovereign territory.

But the involvement of the Druze in Middle Eastern conflicts is much more than an ethnic detail. It is a strategic factor that signals serious instability; fragile governments; and the possibility of external interventions justified by the protection of minorities. Their presence and resistance help to understand the moral and geopolitical complexity of the region, where no identity is neutral and no conflict is purely local.

It is precisely because of this complexity that the Middle East is often portrayed as a region mired in chaos and endless conflict. It is called the laboratory of apocalyptic Armageddon, the world's powder keg, a basket of mad cats, and other similar epithets. In reality, the Middle East is a complex chessboard where millennia-old histories, religious disputes, colonial borders, and global strategic interests intertwine—and clash.

Therefore, and in all honesty, reducing the Middle East to a "mixed bag" might seem like a useful metaphor to describe its recurring conflicts, but it's also a lazy way of thinking. What many perceive as disorder is, in reality, the result of deep layers of history, geopolitical disputes, religious rivalries, and unresolved colonial legacies. The region follows its own logic, which demands careful, contextualized reading, free from stereotypes.

Let's start with colonialism: The borders of the current countries in the region were drawn using European rulers. Much of the modern Middle Eastern state emerged after the First World War, when empires like the Ottoman Empire collapsed and European powers such as France and the United Kingdom redrew the region's map based on political, economic, and military interests, rather than ethnic or religious realities. The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 is emblematic of this artificial territorial engineering that has left legacies of instability to this day.
The weight of religions and the sectarian abyss: Religious diversity in the Middle East is immense: Sunni Muslims, Shiites, Christians, Druze, Jews, Yazidis, among others, to name just a few. Conflicts such as the one between Saudi Arabia (Sunni) and Iran (Shiite) are often described as "religious," but they also involve profound disputes over regional political hegemony, influence over armed groups, and access to resources.
External interventions - when the fire comes from outside: The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria have shown how external powers, especially the United States, Russia, and European powers, shape the destinies of the Middle East according to their own interests. Frequently, these interventions result in prolonged instability, the destruction of institutions, and the proliferation of radical groups.
Israel and Palestine, the epicenter of ongoing tension: No open wound is as symbolic as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Rooted in British colonialism and exacerbated by decades of occupation of Palestinian territories, forced displacement, and resistance, the clash remains a symbol of the disputes between nationalisms, identities, and historical memories that permeate the entire region.
Natural resources - oil as both a blessing and a curse: The Middle East holds approximately 48% of the world's oil reserves. This abundance attracts global covetousness, fuels authoritarian regimes, and sustains conflicts and economic imbalances. Oil is simultaneously an engine of wealth and a fuel for instability.
Resilient populations - between war and hope: Despite the violence and crises, millions of people in the Middle East resist, build, and reinvent. Civil movements, art, literature, science, and cultural resistance flourish amidst the apparent chaos, showing that there is much more than war at the heart of the region. Among these peoples are not only the Palestinians, but also the Kurds (approximately 30-40 million, the largest stateless people in the world); Armenians (in the Middle East), survivors of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by Turkey (1915-1923). Not to mention the Assyrians (or Chaldeans and Arameans), the Yazidis, the Bedouins, the Copts (Egyptian Christians), and the Druze.

The Middle East is therefore not exactly a "mixed bag," despite appearances. We also hope that, despite appearances suggesting otherwise, it is not the region of Armageddon from the biblical Apocalypse, the setting for the final battle between good and evil before the Last Judgment. Armageddon (in Hebrew Har Megiddo, or "Mount Megiddo") is presented as the place where the kings of the Earth, deceived by evil spirits, will gather for battle against God.